The upper and lower outer shell casings of turbines are conventionally bolted to one another along the flanges at a horizontal midline. The bolts or studs used to close the joint between the upper and lower outer shell casings conventionally range in diameter from 2.5 to 6.0 inches with lengths ranging from 18 inches to about 6 feet. The threads on the bolts are on the order of about 8 threads per inch for all of the bolt sizes. In turbines manufactured by the assignee of the present application, the joint between the upper and lower outer shell casings is direct metal to metal contact. Prior to forming the joint, the metal surfaces are scraped and stoned to provide clean surfaces. To prevent the grain boundary from growing at this joint between the upper outer shell half and the lower outer shell half, triple boiled linseed oil is applied to the contacting metal surfaces. While the linseed oil serves as a type of sealant, more importantly, it precludes the grain boundary from growing together. It will also be appreciated that the joint does not have any gaskets or other types of seals and is typically closed with a force of about 35,000 pounds per square inch. To permanently secure the upper and lower casings to one another, the bolts are started from the middle of the turbine shells and worked axially outwardly to close the joint. Once the joint is closed, each bolt is, in sequence, loosened, retightened so that it is snug and then tightened further to stretch or tension the bolt for about 30 to 40 mils to provide a preload on the bolt. The turbine is thus normally operated with the bolts under such preloaded tension.
To service the turbine, the upper and lower outer shell casings are unbolted along the horizontal midline and the upper shell casing is removed. The rotor is then removed from the lower shell casing. However, certain measurements must be taken with the outer shell casings bolted to one another after the rotor has been removed. Thus, the upper and lower shell casings are re-bolted to one another to effect those measurements. It will be appreciated that a typical re-bolting or temporary bolting of the upper outer shell casing to the lower outer shell casing can be an arduous and lengthy task. For example, when re-bolting with the bolts previously removed from the turbine, it is difficult for mechanics to lift and thread the very heavy nuts onto the bolts. A six inch nut will weigh about 82 pounds, and it is difficult to start the threads onto the bolts particularly where the nut is started in very low and confined spaces. Normally, two or more eight hour shifts are necessary for the mechanics to temporarily close the joint. Further, when the initially removed bolts are reused to temporarily close the joint to effect the measurements, the bolts must be first cleaned. With that requirement, the turbine must be maintained in an out-of-service condition for the additional time period required to clean the used set of bolts. Accordingly, there is a need for a fast temporary bolting system for closing the joint between upper and lower outer shell turbine casings to facilitate the measurements necessary for servicing the turbine with the rotor removed from the turbine.